Dembélé turns Mbappé's Ballon d'Or formula against him in war of words

Ousmane Dembélé has taken another shot at Kylian Mbappé during the Ballon d’Or voting period by turning one of his own catchphrases against him. In an interview with the BBC alongside his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the 2025 Ballon d’Or winner backed the Georgian for the next top award, slipping in a pointed remark: « As they say, he burned the retina too. »

The expression is no accident. « Burning the retina » has become Mbappé’s signature phrase for defining Ballon d’Or criteria. The Real Madrid player hammered home the phrase in an RFI interview, arguing that the ability to captivate individually should take precedence over collective performances. By reusing it with a knowing smile, Dembélé openly mocks his rival’s rhetoric.

This verbal sparring fits into a sequence of tensions between the two French internationals. Mbappé had recently drawn a line between them by saying: « He has always been seen as a talented player. I have always been seen as the chosen one. » A remark perceived as disrespectful by Dembélé’s camp, who hit back by recalling that he had « never been the chosen one », but had worked to win the Ligue des Champions and the 2025 Ballon d’Or.

The PSG playmaker fueled the feud further on the first anniversary of his individual award by posting a story on social media with the title Au 33e by rapper Ninho. The lyrics evoking « a ton of traitors » left little doubt about the intended recipient of the message.

The cold war between the two men, sustained through carefully veiled insinuations and coded references, continues as the season progresses and voting for individual trophies approaches its conclusion.